University of Cambridge, I am dreaming of you

Diksha Raj,

Grade 11, GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis Dubai

I have a dream...

These were the inspirational words spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize among many other achievements. To many young adults who will graduate in a few years time, a prestigious university is the ultimate goal. A symbol of freedom, the chance to explore the ups and downs of being an adult and (oops, I said it) possibly even the idea of living without your parents around.

It’s what we all work towards in these crucial years. For me, university wasn’t really something that would pop up in my head every time I was distracted by my thoughts and wanted to do anything but study.

I started becoming quite excited at the idea of attending university in another country after I realised that what I had been wanting to do ever since I was 10 wasn’t really what I wanted to do.

For a period of 2-3 months, I began pulling out all the stops and spending most of my time researching the top colleges in the world.

As I dug deeper into admissions, eligibility and the grades I needed to achieve, I became captivated by the possibilities of what I could possibly achieve in the years to come. Could I really be that 1 in a 100 that got into Harvard? One never really knows. But I could aim for UCLA, or maybe the University of British Columbia.

I know what you’re thinking. Probably that I’m delusional or overconfident. But in the past few months, I have learnt that there is no harm in trying.

So I’m proud to say that have found a dream university, the prestigious University of Cambridge. Visions of the picturesque town and its beautiful sunsets, huge libraries and high standard education system now frequently flash across my mind, giving me a new kind of inspiration and determination.

The kind I never seemed to have until now.